Little Boxes
by Squintz1
Summary: Harry's fifth year. Yes, there are a million of these. I can't promise that mine will have no cliches, but I'll try. Harry learns that not everything is black or white and people don't fit into the little boxes that he puts them in.
1. The Twilight Zone: Privet Drive Style

Disclaimer: If you think that I'm JK Rowling or for some strange reason I own Harry Potter, why would I be spending my time writing fanfiction for no money when I could be writing the sixth book so that I'll be able to make more money sooner after the fifth book is published????

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Little Boxes

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Chapter 1: The Twilight Zone: Privet Drive Style

Summer officially sucked, Harry thought to himself. He had only been home a few days, and he'd already decided. Well, he wasn't really "home", that title belonged to Hogwarts or the Burrow, but he was with his legal guardians.

The Dursleys seemed to have decided to ignore him, to an extent. He was still fed and he still had chores, but they were posted on the bulletin board every morning and they weren't as numerous as they used to be. Unfortunately, this gave him more time to wallow in misery and self guilt, so he had taken to doing things that hadn't been asked of him, but that needed doing, such as fixing the garden fence gate and taking out the rubbish when the barrels were full.

Things seemed different at Four Privet Drive and he wasn't sure why. Take yesterday, for example: Aunt Petunia actually _thanked_ him when he helped her to make dinner. And earlier today, Dudley seemed to have been just about to ask him a question, when Uncle Vernon had entered the room. Dudley had immediately slammed his mouth shut and hurried away. It was then that Harry noticed that Dudley's considerable girth had lessened quite a bit. He was still overweight, but he was no longer the size of a young killer whale.

The Dursleys had changed while he was away at school and although Harry was curious as to why, he didn't need to know. Aunt Petunia and Dudley had seemed almost... nice. Uncle Vernon, on the other hand.... Come to think of it, Uncle Vernon seemed to be out of the house most of the day.

Harry was startled of his thoughts by a timid knock on the door. Astonished, he said slowly, "Come in," wondering who on earth it could be. The Dursleys never knocked softly.... 

The door opened and Dudley entered.

"Hello Harry." Dudley greeted.

"Dudley? What-why-who-?" Harry sputtered incoherently.

"All you need now is when and where and you've got the five w's." Dudley joked.

Harry just gaped.

"I-I've come to say I'm sorry."

"You- what?"

"I'm sorry, Harry."

"What for?"

"For all the things I've done to you over the years. For bullying you and calling you names and never sticking up for you when others people did too."

"Well, it's a bit late for that now, isn't it?" Harry snapped, thinking of the apologies he owed Cedric, ones he'd never get to say, and Cedric's reaction to the aforementioned apologies.

Dudley smiled sadly and replied, "Yes, well, I didn't expect you to forgive me, anyway. I don't deserve it, not after the horrible things I've done to you. I just want you to know, Harry, that if you ever do forgive me-"

Harry was startled at how close these words hit to home. If he had the chance to apologize to Cedric like this, wouldn't he? And wouldn't he want Cedric to forgive him, even if he didn't deserve it? "Wait Dudley- I forgive you."

"You can-you do?"

"Yes, I do. How about we just start over, you know, wipe the slate clean?" Harry offered.

Uncertainly, Dudley replied "Alright. Hello, my name is Dudley. I'm your cousin." He held out a hand.

Grinning, Harry played along. "Nice to meet you Dudley, I'm Harry." They shook hands solemnly and then started to laugh.

"Not to sound rude or anything, Dudley, but why did you apologize? I mean, what caused your change of heart?"

"Do you promise not to make fun of me or laugh?"

"Only if it doesn't have to do with you taking ballet lessons."

Dudley grinned. "Fortunately, it has nothing to do with ballet lessons. Well, the matron at school, you know, the nurse, she was worried about my health. After all, I was severely overweight, unhealthily so. She's the one who suggested the diet, year before last, remember?" 

Harry nodded. "Go on."

"Well, when she realized that the diet hadn't worked very well, she sent me to see the school psychiatrist. At first, I refused to say anything and the sessions were spent in silence, with him just looking at me, waiting for me to talk. After that, though, the silence got to be unbearable. I couldn't take it anymore, so I just exploded and started screaming at him, venting my frustration until I lost my voice. All he said was 'Ah, at last we have contact.' And he smiled at me. 

"I wanted to wipe that smile off of his face, but then I realized if he didn't get mad at me for screaming at him, he couldn't be all bad, could he? So I started to talk to him. He'd ask me normal questions, like 'What's you're favorite lesson?' and in the process of answering, I'd tell him everything. Eventually, I realized that I ate things when I got upset or bored. And I joined the football team on Mr. Goodheart's, that's his name, suggestion. I'm not very good, but I got exercise and that, combined with my new diet, helped me to lose weight. 

"But I continued to go to see Mr. Goodheart because I knew I could tell him stuff. You see, Harry, I don't really have any friends. Piers was the only one of my old friends that goes to Smeltings and he made new friends in our first year because of his football talent. And I, well let's just say I'm not a people person." Dudley looked ashamed at this revelation, but Harry gave him a reassuring look.

"Anyway, I ended up telling Mr. Goodheart about everything at home. About you and Dad and Mum." At Harry's panicked look, he said quickly "Don't worry, I didn't tell him anything about the magic, just that your parents had been killed and we got custody of you. With Mr. Goodheart's help, I realized that I had been horrible to you. I also realized the reasons why. The first is that I was jealous of you."

"Jealous?" Harry squawked. "Why were you jealous of me?"

"When we were younger, it was because you were there and you took my parents attention away from me, even if it was because they were angry with you. But then, after you left for that school, what was it called again Hog-something-or-other, it was because you were special, you were magic, and I'm not. Then when you came home and you didn't get any letters, I was happy, because I thought it meant that you hadn't any friends either...but then your friends came in the middle of the night... I don't know what it's like to have real friends, Harry. You're lucky and I was jealous."

"Lucky? You call getting locked in a cupboard and starved lucky?" Harry cried, indignantly.

"Not anymore. Once I told Mr. G about it, I realized how petty and cruel I was being. What about you? You didn't have parents, you lived with people who didn't like you, and you had to sleep in a closet. And then there was me. I guess I didn't make it any easier on you. And once I realized that, I felt terrible. I asked Mr. G what I should do and he said I should try to be your friend, only I didn't understand why you would ever want that. After all, I was a spoiled brat and a jerk to you for years. Why would you want to be my friend. But Mr. G said I wouldn't know until I tried and the first thing I should do is apologize. Friends?" He looked at Harry hopefully.

"You're right. You didn't make it any easier for me." Dudley looked crushed and deflated. He started for the door. "But I've already forgiven you for that. And you're trying to change that now, so yes. We're friends. At least if that's what you want." 

Harry didn't particularly want to be friends with someone he'd loathed for his entire life. But it had to have been hard for Dudley to take the first step and tell him all of this information. Besides, if he had really changed, Harry thought, it would be nice to have a friend around during the holidays.

Dudley smiled happily. "Thanks Harry. So, do you need any help with your chores?"

"Well, I've finished today's, but you can help me tomorrow, if you want. Dudley?"

"Yeah Harry?"

"Is it just me, or does it seem really...different around here?"

"It isn't just you. I think-I think my parents are having problems with their marriage. My mum and I keep in touch over the school year, you know, and I told her about my sessions with Mr. G. She thought it was wonderful and asked me if I thought she should go to see a psychiatrist, too. I thought maybe it was because she was lonely here during the day, so I told her to go for it. After all, I changed a lot because of my sessions and I feel a lot better about myself now. She started seeing a woman named Jane and she realized that she was bored sitting alone by herself at home. So she went back to school. She had a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science, but then she married my dad and became a house wife, so she's working towards a Master's in Computer Engineering. She's coming along great!" Dudley's voice filled with pride. 

"She's also joined a cooking class and an art class. She's started feeling a lot better about herself, she told me. But I don't think my dad is too keen on her becoming her own person... I think-I think that he's been-" Dudley faltered.

His curiosity piqued, Harry asked softly, "You think he's been what, Dudley?"

Looking ashamed, he revealed, "I think he's been cheating on my mum."

Harry felt gobsmacked. "Do-do you have any reason to believe that?"

"He spends a lot more time out of the house, he's been taking more 'business' trips, and yesterday, I found this. It fell out of his pocket." Dudley handed Harry a piece of pretty stationary that seemed to have perfume sprayed on it.

Harry opened it.

"_Dear Vernon,_

I had a wonderful time last night. We should go out more often."

There was more, but Harry stopped reading. "Does-does Aunt Petunia know?" Harry whispered.

"I'm not sure, but-" Dudley bit his lip, then finished, "I think so. I think that she doesn't want to believe it, but... I think she knows."

The boys sat in silence for a little while, contemplating what had been said when Dudley spoke up. "Harry? How-how did your parents really die?"

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A/N: Hello. I hope you like this so far. I have to go babysit now, but I'm hoping to get the next bit out tomorrow or Monday, so ttfn! REVIEW!!!!!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: If you think that I'm JK Rowling or for some strange reason I own Harry Potter, why would I be spending my time writing fanfiction for no money when I could be writing the sixth book so that I'll be able to make more money sooner after the fifth book is published????

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Little Boxes 

Chapter Two: 

"To understand what happened to my parents, first you have to understand this: There are good wizards and there are bad wizards and just like in the Muggle world, there are fanatics who are power-hungry. Some wizards believe that if you're Muggle-born or if you have Muggles in your family, your blood isn't as pure, and many opinionated 'purebloods' call Muggle-borns a nasty name: Mudblood, like they have dirty blood. Muggle-borns and their families are persecuted by these wizards.

"The wizard that killed my parents, Voldemort, is one of the fanatics. The wizarding world was at war with Voldemort and his supporters. My parents supported Dumbledore, who was on the opposite side. Dumbledore still won't tell my why Voldemort was after them, but my parents knew it and they decided to go into hiding, but one of their best friends betrayed them and framed my godfather.

"When Voldemort tried to kill me, the curse rebounded and hit him, 

because of the magical protection given to me by my mother when she died for me, leaving me with this scar and leaving him as little more than a ghost. He's been trying ever since to return and he managed to do it a little over a week ago. He used my blood to bring himself back. I should have stopped him. I did it before. And Cedric- my fault he's dead."

Dudley realized that Harry was no longer talking to him. "Harry?" he 

ventured uncertainly.

Harry started. He had forgotten who he was talking to. "Yeah?"

"What do you mean, you've done it before?"

"In my first year, Voldemort was attempting to steal the Philosopher's Stone, which grants the holder immortality and endless wealth...With my friends' help, we managed to stop him. My second year, his sixteen-year-old memory possessed my best friend's little sister via her diary, and again, with my friends' help, I stopped him. But last year...he won...and a student died."

A heavy silence settled over the cousins.

"So, what happened third year?" Dudley said hoping to lighten the mood.

"My godfather broke out of wizard prison, I thought he, a notorious murderer, was after me, my dad's best friend taught Defense Against the Dark Arts, we found out my godfather was innocent, my best friend's rat turned out to be my parents betrayer, and my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher quit because Snape told the Slytherins he was a werewolf."

"Oh..." Dudley responded. Changing the subject, he asked, "Will you tell me about your friends?"

Dubiously, Harry hesitated. But when he recalled what he felt like when he had no friends, wouldn't he have wanted someone to tell him about theirs? 

"Alright. Well, there's Ron Weasley. You met he and his brothers last 

summer."

"They inflated my tongue." Dudley said.

"Er...Yeah...they like to prank people."

"That's okay, the sweets tasted good, anyway."

"They usually do...I mean the Canary Creams are delicious, but they turn you into a bird..."

"_Really_?" Dudley's eyes grew round in amazement.

"Yeah. They've decided to open a joke shop once they graduate, called Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. Anyway, Ron's got five older brothers and a younger sister. There's Bill, he works as a curse breaker for Gringotts, that's our bank. And then Charlie, he works with dragons in Romania-"

"You mean dragons are _real_?" Dudley gasped.

"Oh, sure. There's all kinds, too. Charlie once helped my friends and I smuggle a baby Norwegian Ridgeback out of the castle in our first year."

"Cool." 

But thinking about dragons made Harry think of the First Task and thinking about the Tournament made him think about Cedric and thinking about Cedric-. Forcefully dragging his thoughts from this track, he continued talking. 

"Then comes Percy. He works for the Ministry of Magic. That's sort of the English Wizarding Government. After Percy is Fred and George. I've already told you about them. Then Ron, he's excellent at chess… In our first year, he managed to get by McGonagall's chess set."

Dudley really only understood half of what Harry was saying, but it was fascinating to hear about a real Wizarding family. 

"His sister Ginny is a year younger than we are. I don't know her all that well."

*And who's fault is that?* his conscience asked him nastily. Pushing that thought out of his head, he continued on.

"My other best friend, Hermione Granger, is Muggle-born. Her parents are both dentists. I've only met them once or twice. Anyway, Hermione is basically a walking, talking textbook. She became our friend first year after we knocked out a mountain troll in the girl's loo. Long story. What?" Dudley had a strange look on his face.

"One of your best friends is a girl? Is she your girlfriend?"

"Not you too!" Harry moaned. "No, she's not. We're just friends. Besides, I reckon Ron fancies her…"

"Does she fancy him, too?"

"It's hard to tell, really. But I think so." Harry recalled the Yule Ball from the previous Christmas and the fight that had followed.

"So, do you have a girlfriend?" Dudley asked.

"No. Though I did bring Parvati Patil to the Yule Ball, but I wasn't exactly the best partner and it was only because I had to have one that I asked her in the first place."

"Isn't there anyone you like? Like that, I mean?"

Fleetingly, Harry thought of Cho, but he had realized that it was only a stupid crush, much like the one Ginny had on him in her first year, so he pushed that thought away. "No."

"What about your friend's sister, Ginny, I think her name was?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it would be to go out with a girl that has six older brothers?"

"Fine don't answer my question. Is she not attractive looking, then?"

Startled, Harry answered, "No, she's very pretty." As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt his face heat up.

"You do like her!" Dudley crowed.

"No I don't!" Harry replied, desperately trying to dig himself out of the predicament his words had put him in.

"Then why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing!"

"Sure Harry. I believe you. I wonder what would happen if your friend Ron found out you have a thing for his sister." Dudley mused.

"I DON'T HAVE A THING FOR GINNY WEASLEY!"

"Alright Harry, calm down. I was just joking." Dudley looked vaguely frightened. It wasn't like Harry to explode.

Calming himself, Harry replied, "Sorry about that. I'm a little on edge."

"No kidding. Hey, are you any good at algebra?"

"Not really. I bet you anything Hermione is, though. Why?"

"I have a few questions about my summer homework, is all. No need to bother your friend."

"No, here, I was meaning to write her a letter anyway." At Dudley's hesitant look, Harry insisted, "Really, Hermione loves helping people with school and I'm pretty sure that Arithmancy is a lot like Algebra. Come on, I'll show you how to use a quill."

The two boys wrote an extensive letter to Hermione explaining everything and at the end, Dudley added a few specific questions regarding his algebra work.

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Hermione Granger had only been home for a short time when she began to wish she was back in the Wizarding world, despite the fact that they were in the midst of a war with someone most denied the existence of. Over her years at Hogwarts, she had been close to death more times than most would expect and her parents knew little about it. 

She had told them sparse details of the adventures she, Ron, and Harry had shared. But now, she wasn't sure what she should do. Did she tell them about the war and risk being pulled out of school? Or did she keep it secret, knowing full well that one day she might not come home and her parents would never know the real reason why?

*Think of what the others would say! The know-it-all Hermione Granger doesn't know the answer to something!* When she recalled something Dumbledore had said, something about choosing to do what was right instead of what was easy, she decided to take the risk and inform her parents of what was happening.

They took the news surprisingly well. They were upset that she hadn't felt she could confide in them sooner. Her father only suggested she leave Hogwarts once and at her vehement protestations, he immediately withdrew his request. Her mother was surprisingly understanding.

"I just wish you'd come to us sooner, luv. I'm not promising we won't worry about you or suggesting you should betray your friends, because I would never do that, never. And I can't say that I understand all that you've told us, but I can promise that we'll try to understand and that we support any decisions you may make. Personally, I think that we should get in touch with your friends' families. Maybe they can help us to help you and help us to understand. Especially Harry's family, they must know what it's like, to be caught between worlds."

"I wouldn't bet on it, mum. The Dursleys hate magic. And they're not too fond of Harry, either."

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After she had told her parents, Hermione felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

As she was sitting in her room, Hedwig arrived with a letter from Harry.

"That's odd. Usually he waits till I write him to send a letter…What if something's wrong?" Hurriedly she removed the parchment from Hedwig's leg and quickly unrolled it.

****To Be Continued****


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